Clips Round-up for 6/14/12

Submitted by mrober@publicam... on Thu, 06/14/2012 - 13:10

Yesterday's top story, of course, was news that Adelson has made a $10 million donation to Restore Our Future (and possibly more). David Donnelly in the LA Times: "The ties between Romney’s campaign and super PAC are well documented and this example shows the fiction of contribution limits and the dominating role big money plays in our elections. Romney personally knows big donors like Adelson and there is no question that they’ll expect a big return on their investment if he wins." NYT on Adelson setting "a new standard," Salon, Rolling Stone, USA Today, Mother Jones on how this is "chump change" for him.

And if you read this George Will column making fun of a liberal elementary school election to make fun of campaign finance reform, then make sure to read his 2009 column on men ruining our society by wearing denim too often.

NYT: John Edwards charges dismissed "The Justice Department said Wednesday it would not retry Mr. Edwards on the five charges of campaign finance fraud on which a North Carolina jury could not reach a verdict after a six-week trial that ended this month."

Congress/2012NYT: Jamie Dimon on the Hill Why didn't Senators challenge Jamie Dimon more yesterday at a Senate hearing? New York Times editorial: "Maybe their staffs did not prep them on the complexities. Another possible explanation is that, even now, senators from both parties are still in thrall to Mr. Dimon and the deep pockets of the banking industry." Related column from Dana Milbank.

TPM: Democratic donors' super PAC freeze-out is starting to thaw "Democratic-supporting super PACs say Democratic donors, wary of giving money to the outside spending groups their candidates have railed against since the Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision, are starting to put their principles aside as the power of super PAC spending becomes more pronounced."

Roll Call: Beltway bundlers have Mitt Romney sitting pretty "It’s hard to say who gets more out of Mitt Romney’s increasingly cozy relationship with Washington, D.C., lobbyists — the presumptive GOP nominee or the K Street insiders rounding up checks for him." I think this quote from one lobbyist is important: "If there’s a single ‘go-to’ person in Washington for the Romney campaign, it is Jack Gerard." Gerard is the head of the American Petroleum Institute.

US News: Geithner not worried about dearth of Wall Street donations Tim Geithner yesterday when asked about all of Romney's donations from Wall Street: "I can’t really speculate on their motives, but I suspect it’s because they believe that they are more likely to get a more favorable hearing in terms of relaxing these reforms if the Republicans have a stronger hand in Washington."

WaPo: Ex-lawmaker lobbyists more likely to put leftover campaign money to political use What are ex-lawmakers turned lobbyists doing with leftover campaign cash? "Those who become lobbyists are much more likely than other former lawmakers to put remaining money to political use — donating to lawmakers who have the ability to help their lobbying clients, according to the report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which tracked 57 House members who left Congress in 2007 and 2008."

WaPo: Secret money fuels the 2012 elections EJ Dionne's latest column: "This time, much of the auction will be held in private. You can be sure that the candidates will find out who helped elect them, but the voters will remain in the dark. "

The Hill: House liberals want group that filed suit against healthcare law to reveal donors "House liberals this week are asking the business group leading the lawsuit against the administration's healthcare reform law to reveal its donors. Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) say they doubt the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has challenged the healthcare law on behalf of small businesses, as the group claims."